


Weaving

by mithrel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Apologies, Gen, M/M, Post-Season/Series 07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-27 02:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15675939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrel/pseuds/mithrel
Summary: James has changed a lot in the past four years, and he and Keith have unfinished business.





	Weaving

**Author's Note:**

> I understand why they didn't address it in the show itself, but I had to resolve their issues after they've changed so much. This can be read as pre-slash or gen, it's up to you.

He finally gets a chance to talk to Keith.

First he was expected at the ceremony where Captain Shirogane made a speech, then every time he went by Keith’s room, there were people in it. The scowly guy was bad enough, but there was something in the eyes of the woman that warns James that he does _not_ want to fuck with her.

But he doesn’t have any duties now, the aliens are gone, and Keith’s awake, so he slips into the room, trying not to look like he’s preparing for a confrontation. “Hi.”

Keith’s eyes narrow. “…Hey,” he says, the _What the hell are you doing here?_ unspoken, but loud in his tone.

James coughs. It’s been more than five years, but there’s something he needs to get off his chest. “I’m sorry.”

Keith blinks at him, understandably confused, so he continues hurriedly, “About what I said. About…your parents.”

Comprehension spreads across Keith’s face, as though he’s remembering something that happened a lifetime ago. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly easy to get along with back then.”

“Still, it was outta line. I’m sorry.”

Keith nods. “It’s okay.”

It’s not, but James accepts the absolution, then changes the subject. “Who were those aliens that have been here all the time?”

Keith flinches slightly, but he says “Krolia and Kolivan.”

“How’d you meet up with them?” James is still uneasy about accepting Galra as allies, but Captain Shirogane vouched for them personally, which was enough to persuade most people they meant no harm.

“Well, Krolia’s my mom–“ Keith starts.

“No fucking way! You’re half alien?”

Keith flinches again, but corrects “Half-Galra.”

And James needs to keep that in mind, but despite the fact that there are all kinds of aliens running around now, part of his brain still has a natural progression of _alien_ > _Galra_ > _hostile._ “Half-Galra,” he agrees. “How’d _that_ happen?”

Keith flips his hair off his forehead. “The Galra were looking for the Lions, and the Blade embedded agents in as many of the search parties as they could. My mom was in the one sent to Earth.”

“And the Blue Lion was on Earth, right?”

Keith nods. “Yeah. She destroyed the other ship, but her own was damaged and she crashed. That’s when she met my dad.”

James waits, but Keith doesn’t seem willing to say anything more. Reluctantly, he prompts, “Then what happened?”

“Well, eventually the Galra came to check up on the missing ships, so she had to leave.”

James senses there’s a lot Keith’s not telling him, but he’s not surprised. They barely know each other, after all, and they’re certainly not friends. More important though, “So she left and then your dad died, and I…oh _man,_ I am sorry!”

“I told you, it’s okay. We were both different people back then.”

There’s an awkward silence, so James changes the subject. “What about the–“ he holds a hand above his head and grimaces fiercely.

Keith actually chuckles. “Kolivan. He’s not so bad once you get to know him. He’s the leader of the Blade.”

“So how’d you meet him?”

“A Blade member helped Shiro escape from the Galra, and gave him coordinates to find him again, then when we met up he told us where the main Marmora base was. By that time I was getting suspicious about my heritage, and when I recognized the swords the Blades carried I applied for training and they accepted me.”

Again James senses that it’s an oversimplification, but he nods. “Where are they now?”

“They’ve got a lead on a Blade hideout in the next galaxy, so they went to check it out.”

James nods, stands with his hands in his pockets, shifts from foot to foot. He should leave, but there’s something else he needs to say. “Keith…you were really brave out there.”

Keith’s eyebrows shoot up, then he laughs self-deprecatingly. “It’s easy to be brave in a huge invulnerable superweapon.”

 _It wasn’t invulnerable against that last mech,_ James thinks, but before he can say anything, Keith continues.

“You guys held out for three years with no reinforcements and vastly inferior tech. You were going up against cruisers in cobbled-together ships the size of a Galra fighter that had to be recharged after even a short flight. You’re braver than I am.”

James gapes at him for a moment. The old “I Can Outfly Anyone in This Building” Keith would never even have _thought_ that, much less said it out loud. He pulls himself together and says “Thanks,” then adds, “I would say I was just more reckless, but since you’ve got the market cornered on recklessness, I guess it must be bravery.”

Keith’s mouth falls open, then he startles James by throwing back his head and laughing.


End file.
